Some Legendary Returns…

What could possibly drag me out of the “indefinite hiatus” that the blog has been on? Maybe The Greatest Wrestler on God’s Green Earth? Ok, no maybe. Definitely. In the nearly six blogless months of 2024 we’ve seen a lot of great figures but something about a proper NWA Harley Race figure gave me a feeling that I haven’t felt since I was a kid. When the figure was announced I felt as I did when I’d walk into a store and see brand new Hasbros or, in an instance that we all can remember, when the “Undertake ‘Em All” figure ad hit WWF Magazine. It’s a figure that many of us have been waiting decades for and here it is along with three similarly themed friends.

In case you’ve been under a rock (and who could blame you in this world?), the new Harley Race is part of a Mattel Creations four pack called “Legends of the Territory Era.” The set also includes Superstar Billy Graham, Gorilla Monsoon and, once again, Muhammad Ali. The set shipped almost as soon as it went on sale and is still available as of press time. Kudos must be given whenever an exclusive figure (or any figure for that matter) is easily accessible to collectors. There’s no need for manufactured collectibles with a limited availability. None at all.

As most Mattel Creations WWE releases have been, the packaging is impressive. The figures reside in a double sided display inside two boxes with impressive artwork. I really appreciate the faux vintage posters used for the design on the inner box. They show that care was instilled during the creation of this. That being said, some of the verbiage used by the company later nearly nullified all of that, but we’ll discuss that in a bit. Although I’m sure you could somehow store the figures back in the trays, it’s the plastic ties that keep them standing so they may move around a bit while stored. If you’re tossing the plastic trays be sure to remove Graham’s sunglasses first. They tend to blend in to the background.

The Ali – Monsoon side is a tribute to their often-replayed confrontation that was part of the build to Ali’s Boxer vs Wrestler match against Antonio Inoki. Monsoon’s airplane spin on Ali has been replayed ad nauseum over the years so you’ve no doubt seen it. We’ve only ever had one wrestling gear version of Monsoon before and this one greatly improves on it. While it’s obvious whose parts are being recycled here, it really works. It truly looks like Monsoon standing there. It’s absolutely his shape, size and stature. No one asked for another Ali but here we are anyway. It does compliment the Monsoon well. The soft goods upper body clothes look a tad off at times but it was crucial that they were made this way for the recreation of the scene. Apparently we should be grateful for this figure. Again, we’ll discuss that in a bit. I absolutely love the watch accessory which I had overlooked in the preview pics. It fits on like the recent removable wrist bands do so you have to remove the hand for the watch to come off.

The Race – Graham duo is a tribute to the never-ending ‘70s struggle of the NWA versus the WWWF. It’s cool to think of how that was possible back then, even if the business-minded promoters could never agree to give us a definitive winner. Not even for a short while. No one could look better than the other. That being said, both sides look great here. While I already gushed over Harley, a lot of the talk has been the belts and rightfully so. This is the first time that the “domed globe” NWA Championship has been in the Mattel line (and one of few figure-sized versions anywhere) and we’ve never seen the ‘70s WWWF Championship released at all. As much as I love the former, it’s the latter that really sticks out to me here. It’s scary close to the real deal and, yes, it does have the WWWF lettering. To think that we have both of these titles in the line in 2024 is mind blowing. Coupled with the fact that we’re getting the UWF Championship later this summer makes you want to ask, “what’s going on here?” Remember when “rights” absolutely could not be worked out for these belts? I can’t speak for them all, but I highly suspect that it was finally realized that no one really WOULD hold the rights to this WWWF title. These were “trophy belts.” Some trophy maker, probably in a back alley shop in Brooklyn, cobbled this belt together with spare parts. It would be a long shot if anyone tried to sue over that “design.” I could be entirely wrong regarding rights and I’m sure that someone “official” will tell me that I am, but I’m going by the facts of how these original belts were produced.

The original Mattel Billy Graham release was perfect and this one only improves on that perfection. The new “Scott Steiner” biceps are used further hitting home Graham’s impressive physique. The shirt is the new style without the velcro so you simply remove the head and hands to slide it on and off. It fits like a glove just as it would in real life. The extra elbow articulation really helps with his poses. While you don’t get the ‘80s Billy Graham head as you did in the first release, you could pop it on here if you really wanted to. This version is to celebrate the ‘70s and its flamboyant champion who paved the way for Hogan, Ventura and even Steiner among many others.

Finally, we have Harley Race. Remember that while the Jakks Classic Superstars release was nice, he had no facial hair. The head was a simple repaint of their King Harley Race head. Facial hair could’ve easily been painted on but inexplicitly wasn’t. Here we’ve got completely molded mutton chops and an amazing head of curly hair. The figure is relatively similar to the Mattel King Harley but that works. With the wonders of modern figures you can even pop the Greatest Hits blonde Harley head onto this body for a really early version of Race, as he did have blonde hair early on. The color here is royal blue and it’s topped off with his robe that Jakks had also included. This time we get “Race” on the back which is a great detail. The belt fits nicely. I might say that the main plate is just a tad too big, but I’m not complaining. Belts are hard to get both looking great in appearance and looking appropriate when on the figure.

A lot of the “official word” on this set rubbed me the wrong way. When first announced this was said to be first in a “line,” as in we’d receive different sets down the pike. This was corrected to be a “one off.” I don’t know who to blame here. Did someone at Mattel claim this to be a line? It was the worthless goons, I mean, “influencers” who seemingly first used the word. Could they ALL have gotten it wrong? In the grand scheme of things it means nothing, but perhaps we’re kowtowing a bit too much to these folks, eh, Mattel? I know they’ve certainly never influenced me on anything. I don’t watch their videos or even follow them, I’m alerted by others when they have some interesting news since, again, that’s how Mattel and most of these toy companies feel the need to release “scoops,” as it were.

In addition to it not being a line, I was directed to where the voice of Mattel stated that it was a one off because there weren’t enough characters nor enough interest to support more. Wrong and wrong again. Off the top of my head I compiled a list of at least twenty names currently known to be “available” to Mattel who could fit into this line. What better does Mattel like than using what they already have? Especially since I’ve been told that the statement of “This set would not have seen the light of day without Ali” was made by the same official voice. That’s funny considering that this is the figure that most DIDN’T want and also the one that a lot collectors stated would be up for sale. I understand getting the most of a license but it’s already been proven that the crossover for Ali just didn’t translate with the Mattel releases. Am I happy to have him? Absolutely. Am I glad that he’s the reason, in Mattel’s mind, that we got these amazing Race, Graham and Monsoon figures? Most assuredly. But that shouldn’t have BEEN the reason. If PowerTown can give us names with much less marquee value in 2024 than these three then so can Mattel. Why would they not want to produce more versions of Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, Bruno Sammartino and Terry Funk? Why do “The Legends of the Territory Era” have to be limited to the ‘70s? The time period lasted well into the ‘80s. Sounds like a team with limited knowledge of history to me and shortsightedness as far as consumer demand. Really, though, we have to keep in mind that toy companies aren’t in it for our collections nor our wants. They are in it to make money and, remember, it’s their job. They want to slap something together, present it to the bean counters and go home. For every loving detail like the ‘70s poster packaging we also get told that what we want doesn’t matter nor does the era that we know better than they do. Just remember that.

On the bright side, the Harley figure did make me remember something very positive. Twenty years ago this November I’d met Race for the very first time. With the help of this new figure I was able to recreate the first 8x10 that I’d ever had signed by him. It was a positive as this set, overall, is. When it was first announced I pretty much decided that I would do a one-off review for it, but then all of the issues in the last paragraph made me reconsider. After receiving the figures in-hand I knew that they had to be featured. If I may be your “influencer” for a second, go get yourself a set. Prove Mattel wrong and show that legends of all eras are what many of us want. If you’re reading this you probably feel the same. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I do have some ideas flowing. One may elaborate on a memory you just read about. I don’t want to limit my returns to amazing figure reviews, but if you want them I’ll try to oblige.

As always in the past fifteen years, thanks for reading and I’m sure that the best is yet to come…

 

The Greatest Boxer Or The Greatest Referee?

Hard to believe that it’s already the tail end of summer. Nice for someone like me who doesn’t care for the heat, though the ease of not having to worry about coats and things nor weather prohibiting travel is always nice. With the end of the season always comes the San Diego Comic Con exclusive to many of our doorsteps. This year it seems that more of these are being delivered as something changed with the availability. As far as my beliefs go, that’s a good thing. Nevertheless, Mattel once again created a SDCC WWE exclusive to thrill not only wrestling fans but also the masses. The name? Muhammad Ali.

Ali had several tie-ins with wrestling over the years. He was said to have been a fan growing up and attributed his “promo style” to Gorgeous George. It was later contested that he was likely confusing the household name of George with who he was really watching – the similarly able-mouthed Fred Blassie. He would end up working with Blassie in his first foray into wrestling in 1976 when he fought Antonio Inoki in a “Boxer vs Wrestler” match. While the match was considered less than spectacular both in athletics and money-drawing power, it is well-remembered. In the ‘80s Ali was a special enforcer during the main event of the first WrestleMania and became involved in a Mid-South Wrestling match featuring Jake Roberts. Later, Ali would make a brief appearance or two with WCW.

For their SDCC exclusive Mattel has brought us a two-pack representing Ali’s first two ventures into wrestling. His iconic boxing look, patterned after the Inoki match, is one while the other is in is referee gear from WrestleMania. The figures are “Ultimate Editions” and come in the same type of elaborate packaging that Mattel has brought us with The Coliseum Collection and other exclusives. An outer box houses a very striking inner “hinged” box featuring a mock WWF Magazine cover on one side (The Referee) and a mock boxing publication (The Boxer) on the other. When opened (held closed by a magnet) you see both figures displayed behind plastic adorned with Inoki (unnamed) and Hulk Hogan, respectively. It’s a stunning display though a bit much for openers.

Packaged below “The Boxer” is a box full of accessories. You get a plethora of additional hands, two extra heads and Ali’s terry cloth robe. While the variety of hands is great, it’s curious that the set of “gripping” hands is repeated. Would you really want to display those on both figures at the same time? The larger grip hands, included with many figures over the years, should have been included for completely accurate “raising the victor’s arm” poses. Yeah, you can do it with the completely open hand, but it isn’t quite the same. Also one of the heads is completely repeated. I can understand that a bit more if you want a neutral facial expression on both figures at the same time. The “two-count” hand is the most pivotal piece here for me as it seems like Ali was flashing the peace sign a lot in his day.

The figures themselves are great. You won’t be sorry if you add them to your collection. I don’t know that we needed a referee in the “Ultimate” style, but it does help to resemble Ali’s body shape. They got “The Boxer” version down pat, too. You not only have three other “boxing” figures for him to tangle with (Rowdy Roddy Piper, Cowboy Bob Orton and Mr. T) but you can slide the boxing gloves onto many of the other figures that now have removable hands. I already have an idea for some figure photography there. Also in that realm I can see “The Referee” figure making it into shots as a generic classic ref. It’s all about smoke and mirrors.

As mentioned above, this one was not hard to get. In fact it’s still available as of press time. Why is that? It can only be that Mattel realized that making enough for collectors to buy directly from THEM is the way to do it and not to let secondary market scalpers get all the money. It will sell out eventually and will rise in price a bit, I’m sure. There will always be a market for Ali from all angles. I’d say that these two will also be the “definitive” Ali releases. Just like when Mattel grabbed the license for Mr. T, there’s already another Ali on the way in the form of a Retro figure. While I feel it’s unnecessary, I’m sure that I’ll enjoy it in-hand. Anyone can also see them milking the license as much as they can. Suited Ali? Could happen. How about his look when he jumped into the ring to confront Gorilla Monsoon? I’m sure the company has it all thought out. Again, I can’t see us getting standard sized boxing and referee versions outside of this set. 

Another cross-genre SDCC release from Mattel and WWE. I could definitely see Mike Tyson fitting that mold. And boy could they get their money’s worth out of that one. Boxer. Referee. Degenerate? But that’s not who I want. I want Mona Flambé. I just wanna have fun…